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Suggest Treatment For Difficulty In Losing Weight Despite Taking Contrave
I have been on Contrave for 4 months and haven't lost a single pound. Only spent a lot of money. I have changed my eating habits along with that. I am an ER RN and get plenty of running around done at work, but I have worked the night shift for 23 yrs and only walk a mile on my nights off. I'm not sure why the Contrave didn't work. Would Diethylpropion be a better option? I have also used Phentermine before and it never fazed me, no jitters, no extra energy, nothing, and certainly no weight loss.
Fri, 23 Mar 2018
Hello,
I am hearing your frustration and know you have been working on this concern for a while now. I do believe the failure to achieve weight loss is due to not finding the cause of the weight gain and addressing that. Instead of just trying different methods to lose weight, why not explore why you are retaining that excess weight by looking at food diaries and some lab testing.
It may be time to go to the Registered Dietitian with the minimum of a three to five days food diary showing what you eat at work and when off work, the time of day and any other events corresponding with a meal, a list of medications or health history and any lab tests are done.
The labs should include a TSH, free T4, free T3 and if these are of a urinary iodine level. A basic am cortisol test as a screen may also be helpful along with a CBC, vitamin D. Any history of emotional eating or food misuse due to stress, anxiety or other emotions is important and will need an intervention. So, essentially, the cause of your weight gain (aside from increasing age) and the reason you are hanging on to it must be defined by a nutritional diagnosis with corresponding interventions, monitoring, education, and support/referral.
Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Regards,
Kathy Shattler
I am hearing your frustration and know you have been working on this concern for a while now. I do believe the failure to achieve weight loss is due to not finding the cause of the weight gain and addressing that. Instead of just trying different methods to lose weight, why not explore why you are retaining that excess weight by looking at food diaries and some lab testing.
It may be time to go to the Registered Dietitian with the minimum of a three to five days food diary showing what you eat at work and when off work, the time of day and any other events corresponding with a meal, a list of medications or health history and any lab tests are done.
The labs should include a TSH, free T4, free T3 and if these are of a urinary iodine level. A basic am cortisol test as a screen may also be helpful along with a CBC, vitamin D. Any history of emotional eating or food misuse due to stress, anxiety or other emotions is important and will need an intervention. So, essentially, the cause of your weight gain (aside from increasing age) and the reason you are hanging on to it must be defined by a nutritional diagnosis with corresponding interventions, monitoring, education, and support/referral.
Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Regards,
Kathy Shattler
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